Luck
by Chiri Kushi
Summary: Of all the luck in the world, I had to have the bad kind. Ryan and Calleigh ish.


Title: Luck  
Author: Chiri Kushi  
Fandom: CSI: Miami  
Category: General, with hints of Romance  
Pairing: A hint of Calleigh and Ryan  
Rating: K+  
Spoilers: Dangerous Son  
Disclaimer: I do not own  
Author's Note: I kept wondering why Ryan and Calleigh didn't have a scene. Then I thought maybe they did, and this is what I came up with.

_I have the worst luck in the world._ Ryan Wolfe thought bitterly to himself as he walked back into the locker room of the firing range. He shrugged his coat off his shoulders and threw it into his locker. He slammed his locker shut and walked into the firing range office.

First he gets caught gambling, and then he loses his job, and now the finger print in a murder investigation? What's next? What could be worse than a _murder investigation? _He thought to himself as he picked up his clip board and went back to work.

"Ryan?" A voice behind him called out to him.

He looked up, with his interested piqued. He turned around to look at who the voice belonged to, and he nearly dropped his clipboard. He swallowed the lump that was stuck in his throat, "Calleigh? What, what are you doing here?"

Calleigh Duquesne smiled as she took her gun out of her holster and held it for Ryan to see, "Want to give a girl a hand?"

Ryan looked at her and then her gun, an obvious look of confusion on his face, "You asking me for help with a fire arm is like Chuck Norris asking, well I don't know who, but him asking someone for help with kickboxing. It throws the universe out of loop."

Calleigh rolled her eyes while chuckling, "Walk with me. Talk with me. Watch me shoot the bad, bad paper guy." She walked towards the target practice area, and waited patiently for Ryan to follow her lead. He stood in his spot, in the office, "Ryan, come on. Humor me for a minute, would ya?"

He turned around and took a deep breath, unsure and unprepared for the reason Calleigh was here. He grabbed his safety equipment and ran up to Calleigh. He reached for her gun, "I still need to load your gun. Range Policy."

She laughed as she took the magazine out of the gun, and handed both the gun and magazine to Ryan, "So, you get paid to unload and reload guns?"

"Not to mention set the targets and watch people shoot piss poorly," He said as he did as Calleigh said, he unloaded the bullets and reloaded the gun. "Loaded and ready for you, Ma'am," He said as he handed Calleigh her gun, "What distance did you want me to set the target?"

Calleigh pondered the question, "How about 25 feet. Start off small." She smiled as Ryan laughed. He set the target and pressed the button, ready for Calleigh to shoot. She simply looked at him and her smile grew.

Ryan looked at Calleigh, his eyebrows furrowed, "Ok, what."

"I'm going to ask a question, shoot my gun, and then listen to your answer," she stated simply.

He blinked and waited for her to elaborate. When she didn't, Ryan sighed. He braced himself for the worst, "OK. What is it?"

"What have you been doing since the last time I saw you?" She asked, referring to the months before when she saw him at the TV Studio. Granted, he's been at the lab since then, but she was busy when he was there. That, however, was a different story.

She let him ponder the question for a moment while she thought about why they haven't talked since then. She could have called him, but he could have called her as well. Both of them had their tales between their legs, and neither knew where to start. Calleigh, who figured she had the chance to nip this gambling bug in the butt but let it slip, didn't know whether she was still pissed at Ryan, or worried for him. Ryan, who knew he pissed Calleigh off for lying, simply didn't know where he stood in Calleigh's graces for the moment.

She turned to the target, and began shooting. Bullet after bullet flew out of her gun as she pulled the trigger. When all bullets were spent, she let out a happy sigh. "I love the smell of gun ammo in the afternoon," she turned to Ryan, "So, what have you been doing?"

"That's an easy question. Trying to keep my head above water, keep my bills under control," he said as he presses the button to bring Calleigh's target near them to look at her results. He laughed as he looked at the target, every shot hit in the heart and head, "I think that maybe you should talk to Natalia, help her with her shooting technique." He inadvertently changed the subject.

Calleigh looked at Ryan, "OK, I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Don't change the subject, and that's not an answer." She took her gun and placed it back in her holster.

Ryan noticed the move and went to grab her target, "Do you want to take your bad guy for a souvenir?"

"Ryan, stop changing the subject," she glared.

Ryan rolled his eyes as he walked back to the office, Calleigh following behind. "I'm not changing the subject. I told you, I've been working. I have to make a living somewhere."

"Yeah, I got that. You haven't been doing anything other than working, and working to get back to CSI status? Since the last time I saw you?"

Ryan thought back over the last few months, "Yeah, nothing else. Since the last time you saw me. I did help my sister move, but I wouldn't call that the social event of the season."

"Why didn't you tell me that you had to get a job here?" She asked, making sure to let Ryan know that it hurt her not to be kept in the loop.

"I didn't tell anyone, Calleigh. Natalia found out by chance," _Or because I have the worst luck in the world_, he thought coolly, "I'm sorry you found out by someone other than me though. I'm sorry for every thing else too."

Calleigh nodded, finally able to understand why Natalia was hesitant to say anything about Ryan's current job position. She swiftly changed the subject, "You know, my Monday Night Movie Nights aren't the same without you. I miss your 'this is so fake' commentary that you have for every movie we watch."

Ryan laughed, "I miss those too. Look Calleigh, I really am sorry."

Calleigh ignored the apology. Already determining that she forgave him ages ago, and that she missed how easy it is to talk to him. "You know, today is Monday," she said as she bent her head down and looked at Ryan through her eyelashes.

Ryan picked up at the casual hint. He hoped he wasn't misinterpreting the sentence, at least. "Same time, same place?"

Calleigh smiled as she started to walk away, "Seven o'clock, my place. See you there Ryan."

He watched as she left the firing range and he smiled. _I might have the worst luck in the world, but maybe that's about to change._


End file.
